More than deconflicting the dangerous situation there, these reports imply that President Trump has instructed his top military leaders to actively work with their Russian counterparts.

Trump is forced to act quietly and in an understated way because of the many accusations that he is a “Putin puppet” who is beholden to the Russian leader for his help in defeating Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.

That claim never had substantial evidence backing it and is now under even greater risk of being rejected because the Vault 7 revelations from WikiLeaks show the CIA had the ability to disguise hacking to make it look like it came from another country or source.

Turkey has added to the confusion following its invasion of Syrian territory last year because of its shifting alliances with its NATO partners and Putin. Now Erdogan has stepped up and accused the West of arming ISIS in another move that muddies the waters even more: http://revolutionradio.org/?p=165112

It is difficult to follow these rapidly changing developments. Perhaps greater clarity will be achieved following the upcoming meeting in Washington of the 68 member anti-ISIS coalition even though Russia and Iran have not been invited.